Oscar's Fall From Grace

This is the first of a series of 14 short posts which illustrate the tracks from the forthcoming album The Mint Hotel. The songs on the album are inspired by the 'Beat' generation of writers, artists and revolutionaries working from the 1950s to the early 1970s, providing an alternative view of the 'wholesome' American society advertisers and politicians wanted you to see. Each post features a piece of artwork related to the song, created using Artificial Intelligence software; and also an explanation of the inspiration for that song.

Oscar Acosta, aka ‘The Brown Bomber’ has, says Thompson, “a very strange story.” 33 years old, he’d risen to power in local politics as head of a Latino version of the Black Panthers and had become a respectable lawyer. However, he was also a man “with a head full of acid, a loaded .357 Magnum in his belt, a hatchet-wielding Chicano bodyguard at his side and prone to projectile vomiting blood when his ulcer couldn’t handle any more raw tequila.”

Ambushed at sea on a midnight police raid on a speedboat he thought could outrun the coastguard, his Uzi-toting sidekick was killed in the firefight and Oscar had to make a run for it with his suitcase full of drugs. Needless to say his political career was over.

Instrumental track with funky Alto sax solo.